I. ˈbȯld adjective
( -er/-est )
Etymology: Middle English ballede; akin to Old English bǣl fire, pyre, Old High German belihha coot, Old Norse bāl pyre, Danish bǣldet bald, Gothic bala white-faced horse, Latin fulica coot, Greek phalios having a white spot, Sanskrit bhāla forehead, luster
1.
a. : lacking all or a significant portion of the natural or usual covering of hair on the head or sometimes on other parts of the body
his big head was bald except for a wisp or two of brown hair — G.K.Chesterton
comb the hair from the sides of the head across the top to disguise the fact that he is bald
looking as bald and hairless in a bathing suit as a plucked chicken
a bearded or bald face
b. : lacking some natural or expected covering (as of foliage, feathers, trees, soil, or nap)
the trees were brown and bald as in winter — George Borrow
bald , featureless, fire-blackened mountains — John Muir
the banks rise suddenly, sometimes covered with timber and sometimes bald — Anthony Trollope
the bald seat of his trousers
c. of wheat : lacking a beard
d. : not having a flange — used of a mechanical part
2. archaic : lacking merit, import, or effect : worthless , paltry
3.
a. : lacking amplification, adornment, or decoration : sparse , plain , meager
offered not a shred of evidence — nothing but bald assertion — C.H.Grandgent
a bald statement of the facts
only the bald outlines of his legal career — George Bellairs
the more poetic the theme, the balder, or at least the briefer, its expression — W.C.Brownell
b. : undisguised , patent , palpable , outright
bald egotism — J.R.Lowell
a bald lie
the bald , inaccurate … realism of the present theater — J.P.Marquand
the present outcome is a bald political compromise — New Republic
4. of a horse : having the face including the skin about the eyes and nostrils white
Synonyms: see bare
II. noun
( -s )
chiefly Midland : an often grassy mountain summit or other elevated area naturally bare of forest
the grass-covered balds of the Blue Ridge in North Carolina — Fortune
III. intransitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
: to become bald
was starting to bald noticeably
a young man as diplomats go, still under fifty, balding rapidly — J.P.O'Donnell